Plant sale helps beautify Niagara Falls
Horticultural society members grow offerings in their own backyards for May 25 fundraiser
People eager to get their gardens planted after a long winter can get locally grown plants, while also giving back to their community, by heading over to the Niagara Falls Public Library’s Victoria Avenue branch on May 25.
That’s because for the 12th straight year, the Niagara Falls Horticultural Society will be hosting its annual spring plant sale.
Society president Russell Boles said almost all of the hostas, perennials, ornamental grasses and canna tubers that will be available are grown by members of the all-volunteer society in their own backyards.
Along with the society’s popular annual garden walk, coming up on July 13, the spring plant sale has become an important fundraiser for the group, said Boles. That, in turn, supports the work the nonprofit society does to benefit folks across the city, he said.
“All the funds we raise go right back into the community,” said Boles, whose backyard is filled with a variety of potted plants destined to end up at the sale.
Society volunteers plant and maintain the flower beds at the city’s fire stations on Morrison Street, McLeod Road and Dorchester Road, and also do the same at the city’s armoury building on Victoria Avenue.
The society also provides bursaries to the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture and to Niagara College, said Boles.
“Everything is volunteer,” he said. “We’re basically a group of gardeners who like to beautify the community.”
The society is also a big supporter of the Schools in Bloom program at local high schools and elementary schools, which is organized by the city’s park in the city committee and the Parks horticulture school. The program sees kids plant gardens at school, learning about horticulture and the environment and instilling pride in their schools, the city says.
“We encourage kids to participate in nature and create gardens and pollination gardens, and play areas with plants, so kids get a hands-on approach,” said Boles.
The spring plant sale used to be held at the farmers market on Ferry Street, but moved to the library about three years ago and the venue outside the branch’s main entrance has proven popular, he said.
The sale runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Most of the plants are under $10, with some even less expensive, said Boles. “The pricing is really reasonable.”